Comparing
the NEWEST dual-stage single auger juicers:
The Omega 8005 and The Solo Star II
by John Kohler

With the introduction of the two new
dual-stage single auger juicers, one of the questions that we have been getting very
frequently is, which is the better dual-stage single auger juicer? From our previous test, it's apparent that the dual stage juicers
generally yield more juice,while juicing carrots, but is there a difference between the
new dual stage models?

Omega is not a new name in the juicing business. It has its
roots in juicing for over 30 years with its original model that hasn't changed much over
the years, the Omega 1000 juicer. Unlike the other juicers in the Omega
product line which are centrifugal juicers, (1000, 4000, 9000), the 8003 and 8005 (and now
discontinued 8002) are single auger juicers made in Korea.

Tribest has been in the juicer business since the early 1990s,
originally introducing the Green Power twin gear juicer, which has now been upgraded to
the Green Star Juicer. It's no surprise that the Solo Star 2 is also made in Korea.

There are a few visual differences when looking at the two juicers
side by side. The Solo Star has more of a square look that takes up a larger
footprint while the Omega 8005 is more compact with rounded corners. The Omega 8003
is the same as the Omega 8005. The only difference is the color, the 8003 is white
in color, while the Omega 8005 has a Chrome/Black appearance. The Solo Star II
is an off-white color, designated as almond. The Solo Star II has a built in handle,
while the 8005/8003 has a pop up handle, which is not as durable as the Solo Star II
handle.

The new Solo Star II Juicer and the Omega 8003/8005 juicer have longer augers
than the single stage auger juicers. The extra length in the auger is used for the
extra juicing stage. As you can see by the photo to the right, the Solo Star
II auger is about .75" longer than the Omega 8003/8005 Juicers auger.

Will the longer auger translate into more juice?? In a few
moments, you will read about the head-to-head tests we did with the two juicers.

The juicing screens are shown in the picture to the
right. You can see that the Solo Star II has more screen area on its screen than the
Omega 8003/8005 screen. What this means is that there is more surface area to
clean, and, more importantly, there are more places where juice can be extracted.
The holes in the screen on the Solo Star II Juicer start out larger and gradually get
smaller. On the Omega 8003/8005 there are two screen areas, one is on the top of the
picture, just out of view, it has really large holes, while the screen near the bottom of
the picture has much smaller holes.

The Solo Star II and Omega 8003/8005 both incorporate
the dual stage juicing design. The produce is first crushed. The juice
that is released at this stage is directed to the collection tray through a filter.
On the 8005, this first stage screen is the screen with larger holes that is being hidden.
On the Solo Star, it is the top section of the cone as shown in the picture above.
The 2nd stage on the Omega 8005 is the screen you can see near the bottom of
the picture. The 2nd stage on the Solo Star 2 is the lower section of the screen in
the picture above. The Omega 8005/8003 has a much smaller screen area.
(which due to surface area, is easier to clean in my opinion).

The Baby Carrot Test

We did a direct comparison with the juicing of baby cut organic carrots.
We juiced two pounds of baby Cal-Organic carrots in each juicer.
You can see the results of the test in the table below. Both these juicers took
about 3 minutes to juice 2 pounds of baby carrots.

Why Baby Carrots? We used baby carrots since they are
pre-washed, we just opened the bag and fed them into the juicer. They also come in
convenient 1 pound bags.

Solo Star 2

8003/8005

Difference

Baby Carrots
(2 lbs.)

20.8 oz

16.35 oz

+ 21.39%

As you can see from the table above, the Solo Star 2
produced an impressive 21.39% more juice when juicing baby carrots than the Omega
8003/8005. Why the extreme difference? I believe this difference is due to the
longer auger and larger screen area and the juicing nozzle on the SoloStar 2. The
juicing nozzle helps to keep the pulp inside the machine so juice can be further
extracted. Of course, results will vary depending on the produce being
juiced. Remember that loss of yield means that you are throwing extra
"juice" away in the fiber!

The Apple Test

Since the single auger juicers seem to juice vegetables fairly well,
but usually have problems with juicing fruit, we decided to juice apples next. We juiced 2
pounds of organic gala apples, that included a slice of lemon (This recipe is known
as lemonade, since the apples give a sweet flavor, and the lemon gives it a
"zing") in both juicers. See the table below for the results.

Solo Star 2

8003/8005

Difference

Apples + Slice Lemon
(3 lbs.)

32.00 oz

31.00 oz

+ 3.13%

Again you can see that the difference was much less
than in the carrot test. The Solo Star 2 still produced a higher yield, but only by
a margin of 1 oz, or 3.13%.

These results would lead us to believe that the Solo Star Juicer is
more efficient, since it extracted more juice out of both of the produce items we juiced.

Clean Up Test

Solo Star 2

8003/8005

Difference

Time To Clean

3 minutes

1 min 15 seconds

+ 58% more

Cleaning the juicer is one part of the juicing that
many people dread. In this test, the Solo Star 2 has 6 pieces to clean + a
screen with massive surface area. The Omega 8005 has 5 parts to clean with a screen
that has much less surface area.

Here is how we cleaned the juicer:

We took the juicer apart, and turned the hot water on full in the
sink.

In one hand, we took a nylon dish brush that had dish soap applied,
the other hand each juicer part.

We put the part under the water while scrubbing it to get all the
pulp dislodged.

The hardest part of the cleaning was removing the pulp from the
juicing screen. This is why the Solo Star 2 took 58% more time than the 8005.

The Decibel Test

Solo Star 2

8003/8005

Difference

Decibels

74dB min/80dB max

67dB min/80dB max

+ 9% louder

Some people have described juicers as "An
airplane taking off in my kitchen". I can assure you that these juicers are two
of the quietest juicers we have tested. We used a digital decibel meter to check the
decibels 12" away from the machine (to get the min reading), and right next to
the spout of the machine, to get the max reading. No food was used in this test.

The GaussTest

Solo Star 2

8003/8005

Gauss at motor Shaft

59mGauss

30mGauss

Highest Reading

195mGauss

120mGauss

What is Gauss? Gauss
is a unit of magnetic field strength. We had a request to Gauss test the
juicers, so we invested in a Digital Gauss meter. The motors in the juicer
creates the Gauss. I'm no expert in Gauss, but am reporting the readings. Do
the stronger readings mean the juicer is more powerful? Do the lower reading mean
there is better shielding on the motor? We will let you be the judge. If you
want a low Gauss juicer, looks like the 8003/8005. Of course, if you want a high gauss
juicer, the Solo Star 2 is the way to go.

Full Size Carrot Test
(revisited)

Recently we were made aware of manufacturer testing
that showed the Solo Star produced 40% more juice than the Omega 8005. In our test
above, we found a 21% difference. We wondered if this could be possible.
In the previous test, we used baby carrots. With this test, we used full size
carrots, that were washed, and topped. Please see the results below:

Solo Star 2

8003/8005

Difference

Full Size Carrots
(4.5 lbs.)

45.8 ounces

35.9 ounces

+ 21.62%

Once again, we personally achieved a
21.62% difference this time, so we are unable to substantiate the 40% more claim the
manufacturer is making. We did not strain the juice in our tests. We felt that
the pulp content of each of the juicers were similar. UPDATE: After speaking with the
manufacturer, we have determined the reason for the difference. Our tests were
done by volume. The manufacturer tests were done by weight. Does this mean the Solo
Star II Juicer produced a pulpier or more nutrient dense juice since the weight vs volume
was so different? We will leave this for you to decide. Please see the other
results of this test below:

Clean Up Test (revisited)

Solo Star 2

8003/8005

Difference

Time To Clean

3 min 40 seconds

1 min 25 seconds

+ 61% more

This time, the clean up time for each of the juicers
were consistent with the previous test cleaning times, with the Omega 8005/8003 taking
less time to clean. The cleaning method: turn the kitchen faucet on high, and
blast water through the parts of the juicer while scrubbing with a nylon bristle brush to
dislodged all pulp.

Time to Juice (revisited)

Solo Star 2

8003/8005

Difference

Total Time to juice 4.5 pounds
of carrots

6.0 minutes

5.5 minutes

+ 8% longer

It seemed that the Solo Star 2 Juicer took a little
longer to juice the carrots. I feel this is due to the longer path the pulp needs to
follow before being ejected from this juicer. The longer path and the more efficient
design of the Solo Star 2 is why it is the clear winner in the yield tests.

Summary

We hope these two quick tests and article gave you some insight on
the newest dual-stage single auger juicers. A few other factors to consider
with these juicers:

Clean up- The Omega 8003/8005 has less parts
to clean(five vs. six for the Solo Star II), as well as less screen surface area to
clean.

Warranty - The Omega 8003/8005 juicer warranty
is 10 years, while the Solo Star II juicer is 5 years.

Even though, the 8003/8005 produced LESS yield, we still like it
better than the Solo Star II juicer. This is primarily due to the fact there is
simply less parts to clean, and there is less screen area to clean. We are willing
to sacrifice 3%-21% juice yield to save on clean up time.

The Solo Star II in sheer performance, outperformed the Omega
8003/8005. So if you are one of those people that want to get maximum extraction out
of produce, and want to purchase a single auger juicer, the Solo Star II has the highest
yields that we have tested!

In our tests, had up to 21% more juice when juicing carrots

More Powerful Motor - 180 watts vs. 150 watts

Please note: These are our tests and our opinions, your
results may vary.